The Legend of Zelda: The Hundredth Link
by FFFX
Summary: In a modern Hyrule, thousands of years have passed since Link's last reincarnation. Hyrule seems to have moved on, evolving into a modernized world. But even the strongest of seals don't last forever. Rewrite of A Hundred Links Later
1. Happy Birthday

The Legend of Zelda: The Hundredth Link

Chapter 1: Happy Birthday

_When great evil blankets the land, it brings nightmares to those sensitive to it…_

_Great Deku Tree_

Link shot upright, freed from visions of horrors unimaginable. Merely three seconds prior he was being torn limb from limb by all kinds or horrid creatures from the shadows. It felt good to know it was only a nightmare, but it felt no less real than the memory of his parents death.

There was no memories of his parents beyond that of their death. He was too young at the time to recall anything beyond the most traumatic of events.

He made sure of course, after such a nightmare, that he was still in his own bedroom. The plain, neat and orderly room greeted him with its usual green tint. His nightstand clock read it was 5:26am, far too early for a regular occurrence, and an event he did not wish to repeat.

Sliding out of bed, he ruffled his unruly blonde hair and glanced out the window. It was sunrise, so morning had come after all? Why did he question that it would? Something unsettled him about his nightmares, maybe it was the titanic pig, the boar that threatened him with words and actions, threatened to devour him in his nightmare. Whenever he saw it in that nightmare, everything was darker. If not night, then storming, or trapped in twilight.

He approached his window and looked down at the busy streets of the city around him. Hyrule City, why was he so relieved to see the city standing. "Happy birthday." He mumbled to himself. Some birthday this would be. He was happy to have all his limbs attached after last night.

--

Trudging down the stairs Link froze as the imposing visage of the landlord closed in on him. The burly Goron halted in front of him and gave him a violet pat on the head, and had Link not been used to the gesture, it likely would have snapped his spine. "Mornin' Link, goro!" The Goron bellowed, its deep voice carrying through the entire foyer of the small Inn. "Happy birthday, goro!" He gave an additional pat and began lumbering up the stairs humming the variant of the birthday song, pausing after every few lines to recall the next. This was Darbus for you, big as a house, but with a surprisingly dull wit and memory.

Link began creeping down the short hallway into the foyer of the Inn, and gave a nod to the Goron manning the register. The funny thing was, that that Goron also happened to be named Link. The name was a very popular Goron name, apparently its cultural significance was lost, but still felt.

"Happy birthday, goro!" The Goron waved at the Hylian boy before slamming his hand on the stone countertop. The entire building was actually stonework, something Gorons were very good with. They have old racial secrets passed down from their ancestors for such things. It comes from the old Goron cities carved into the sides of mountains. They wouldn't teach Link, even if he was descended of a sworn bother, as the Goron tattoo on his right shoulder would testify.

"Thanks…" Link opened the door with a happy jingle from the bell and walked out into the street. He was way too early for any of his friends to be up, but he had a feeling Sheik would be up at this ungodly hour, practicing his Ninjitsu or something to such an effect.

Link made a quick stop at a vender to purchase a morning paper and began the usual task of reading today's highlights, one in particular grabbed his attention. _Queen of Hyrule Dies on the Eve of Princess Zelda's Birthday…_ Link frowned. How could he forget, his birthday was the same as the princess's. As usual, this meant Sheik would be busy, as he had somehow become a close friend of the princess and was appointed her personal guard.

Not surprising, since his Aunt Impa was the princess's nanny.

"Link!"

The Hylian nearly jumped five feet in the air at the call of his name. He had been so absorbed in his own thoughts he had not realized that he was walking past Medli's house. He looked up at the window and saw the beaked face of the Rito girl. "Medli… what are you doing up this early?"

"Early bird catches the worm." She giggled and vaulted out of the window, flapping her fathered arms to slow her decent just enough to land in front of Link safely. He couldn't help but look her over once, relieved to see her alive, just as he was relieved to see himself alive this morning. As a Rito, her feet were more akin to talons, and she didn't really wear any shoes, but her legs were by no means twig like, widening out and joining with humanoid legs only halfway up the shin, her body was almost completely humanoid from there, sans the beak-like nose and soft fur-like feathers. "I think I should be asking what you're doing up this early?" She narrowed her crimson eyes at him and waited for the Hylian boy to respond.

"I… couldn't sleep." Link saw no reason to lye to her, she'd probably be able to tell anyway.

"I see…" Medli spun around. "You on your way to Sheiks house, birthday boy?"

Link began walking again, and Medli followed in step. "Yeah… I was going to see what we were going to do today, before the Princess's ball tonight. She might cancel, given the news…" He tossed the Rito girl the paper, and she began looking it over.

"That's terrible! Poor girl…" Her face twisted to her crestfallen look. "I remember when Komali's mom died… he was so devastated…"

Komali was her childhood friend, and his mom was practically her second mother growing up. She kept in touch with the Rito boy, but the foreign exchange program brought her Hyrule City, far from her native lands, and it also was keeping her from growing mature wings, an ordeal she would have to go through soon or forever lose the opportunity.

"Yeah…" Link really didn't know what else to say. There was nothing more he could say.

--

Link knocked on the door of Sheik's house, a narrow two story brick building with a Sheikah symbol, the eye of truth, painted on the door in red. The doormat bore the symbol of the Triforce, the royal family's symbol, in addition to the simplistic message of 'welcome'.

Not surprisingly, it was Impa that answered the door. "Good morning Medli, Link, and happy birthday, I was just getting ready to go to the palace and begin preparations, but Sheik doesn't have to come yet."

"Okay…" She led Link and Medli inside.

"He's on the roof practicing." Impa returned to straightening the tie on her tux, apparently also assigned guard duty at the palace.

Link knew his way around Sheik's house. Sheik was one of the lucky few people to actually live in a house in the city, most were stuck in apartments or boarding houses due to the city's sheer size. Being that the house was only two stories tall, the roof was still overshadowed by the taller buildings farther toward the costly, and was lucky enough to have a three story complex as its other neighbor.

Thus, the roof was nice and shaded from the dreaded heat of the sun for the majority of the day. Medli and Link entered the roof and quickly spotted the Sheikah boy balancing on a tall wooden pole on one foot, meditating. God knows how he got up there, some five foot tall pole, but Link had a feeling it involved a very large jump. "Morning Sheik."

Sheik opened one eye to spot his guests and smiled. Link couldn't help but find it odd, seeing as Sheik's typical attire of a blue long sleeve shirt with a sleeveless white hoodie over top was abandoned for a white button down shirt as his uniform for his guard duty. "Mornin' guys."

"So… Sheik, did you get anything for the princess?" Medli asked curiously.

Sheik sputtered. "N-nada?! I mean… you don't get gifts for the princess's birthday, you mingle and celebrate." Sheik protested. The royal family of Hyrule indeed had everything they ever could want, so it was not surprising that gifts to the royal family were only accepted as things like peace offerings or political symbols of trust. Birthday presents were hardly necessary.

Link sat down on a bench near the side. "She knows Sheik, she was just trying to see if you'd lose your balance."

He glared at the Rito, but she just continued to smile.

"Anyway… I did get something for you Link." Sheik jumped off the log and landed on both feet next to Medli. "It's in my room, so I'll be right back." And so the Sheikah was gone, sprinting in his expensive black pants that Link knew would rip sometime in the next month if Sheik was wearing them while practicing.

Because Sheik practiced with sharp pointy knives, as the dart board would testify, having various metal implements wedged in it right now.

Medli went to inspect the knives and needles. "I don't understand where he gets these… he's seventeen for Din's sake! How on earth does he have a license for this stuff?!"

"Probably because he is a royal guard." Link replied with a shrug. "But honestly, I have no idea."

SPROING

Link watched a metal dart attached to a chain shot past his head, past Medli's head, and sank into the dart board between two knives. They jumped aside as the chain snapped taught pulled Sheik from the stair to the board, where he landed on his feet, couching horizontally on the board. "Check it out!"

"The hell was that! You nearly took our heads off!" Link yelled.

"You'll live." Sheik jumped off the wall and held up the blue and silver device he had used. "I present to you, the Hookshot version six point seven!"

"Hookshot?" Medli just stood there mumbling the name for a while. She felt she had heard it somewhere before.

"The hell's a Hookshot?" Link asked, fairly unimpressed.

"It's a state of the art grapple that consists of a powerful spring loaded dart attached to a chain. The hook is contact sensitive and digs in with two prongs on the sides to hold it in place. It's pretty powerful, so it can dig into almost anything. I juiced it up with a laser pointer for aiming… but the battery died during testing." Sheik explained and tossed the device to link. "Anyway, it's all yours. Happy birthday."

Link aimed it at the dart board, curious enough to try it for himself. He pulled the trigger and heard a click inside the device. "Hm…" He let go of the trigger and the dart shot out, burrowing into the dart board, and then yanked him at the pole, colliding with a powerful crunch.

Medli and Sheik flinched as Link slammed face-first into the pole. "Ara…"

"Link are you okay!" Medli ran to Link's side and began examining his nose.

"Well would you look at the time! Zelda-hime must be waiting for me! I have got to get going! Ja!" The Sheikah ran off down the stares, avoiding farther awkward conversation about Link's poor reflexes and possible blaming directed at him.

"Damn Sheik…" Link cursed and held his nose. "He'll pay for that!"

--

In the royal palace, locked away in her bedroom, the Princess of Hyrule sat on her bed, clutching firmly in her hand her mother's necklace. "Why?" She cried to herself. "Why now? You were perfectly healthy yesterday morning! I saw you! So why?!" She held the necklace closer to her chest. "You were murdered right? Poisoned? It was that man you met with for lunch wasn't it… Vaati of Labrynna…" She glanced up at the vanity mirror across the room, her eyes filled with cold determination, glistening with an unknown light. "I'll kill him." The mirror shattered.

* * *

This is the first chapter of something that will be hopefully better than A Hundred Links later. I'm hoping, sincerely, that it is an improvement, with longer chapters, more character development, and more characters. Also, as for languages. Ancient Hylian will not necessarily be making an appearance, but some racial languages will. For example, when Sheik is placed in socially awkward situations, he forgets how to talk right and slips into some Sheikah vocabulary, and Sheikah is (in this fanfiction) phonically equivalent to Japanese in the real world.

Similarly, I will eventually find languages for the other races, once I find an adequate translator for the languages I have in mind. I find it personally realistic that different races would have different root languages. Sheikah was chosen to be Japanese simply because of their heavy lean towards Ninjas and Japanese themes and weapons. (The hidden village in Twilight Princess reminded me of the Hidden Village concept within Naruto).

Spells that originate within a certain race, like Water Magic, will be cast in that native language. Hylian spells however, will be cast in ancient Hylian, assuming I can find the proper vocabulary to create the name of the spell, if not I will substitute with something else that sounds understandable.

If you think this is a bad idea, please tell me now, before magic becomes important, and if you think this is a good idea don't let that stop you from telling me what you think of the changes I made to the story otherwise.

--

Update 10/17/08: Changed a few errors I think... mostly formatting.


	2. Biker Bandits

The Legend of Zelda: The Hundredth Link

Chapter 2: Biker Bandits

_Legends speak a great Goron hero who held a great hammer and slew a dragon, some say it's a big fairy tail, but I know it is true for a fact._

_Darunia_

Link walked out of Impa's house with a splint on his nose, and the knowledge that Sheik had left for the palace early. Medli left Impa's house with the knowledge that Link was going to kill Sheik.

So she followed the Hylian, thinking him serious and crazy enough to do it, discovered he was going home, and relaxed before bidding him farewell and returning home herself.

Link opened the front door to the Inn and was greeted by the Goron Link at the counter. "Welcome back…goro…" The Goron was trembling, terrified of something. It's not surprising, although the name Link implies bravery and heroism, it was not a trait that this Link in particular possessed in abundance. An oddly dressed fellow could set him off if the man was particularly threatening.

"Thanks… is there a problem Link?" Link asked and leaned on the counter.

"No… no, no problem at all, goro!" The Goron stammered and reached under the counter. "Darbus wanted you to pick up some mortar to repair the walls up stairs, goro…" The Goron fumbled for a moment. "But he forgot to leave me with the money for the mortar, goro… I guess he'll pay you back later, goro." The Goron pulled out a list, of mortar and other supplies Link would be expected to pick up.

Link looked the list over and sighed. "Sure thing, I'll grab some money from my room, and head on out." Link stuffed the list in his pocket and began walking toward the stairs, scowling the whole way. Gorons don't need mortar to repair cracks in stone. Their saliva can soften rock enough to be chewed, so it could turn the crack to clay while they patch it up and then it would harden like any other clay, eventually becoming good as new.

Admittedly it would never be as strong as before, but it was still cheaper and Darbus wouldn't waste money, the guy never thought of the long run. Odds are he'd be dead and gone before it became a problem anyway.

Normal people didn't know that though, so that meant that something was up.

_A hostage situation._ Link concluded, and quickly tensed. It made perfect sense, but why the Stone Wall Inn? There were plenty of bigger, richer Inns to rob. Perhaps it was merely a matter of convenience.

It didn't matter now anyway.

Link ran into his bedroom to grab some cash, it didn't matter how much, he wasn't planning on picking up supplies, he was planning on running. He shoved the paper notes in his pocket and ran to the window. _I hope this works…_ He leaned out and looked up at the stone roof. There was plenty of stone wall before the roof, he'd definitely be able to hit it.

He held up the Hookshot and fired it into the stone above his window, and clicked the trigger as soon as it sank into the rock. There were several triggers actually. It was a very complicated device. Now he could propel down the wall and run for his life. He jumped out of the window and began his gentile decent down the wall. He didn't mind the height so much as the fear of being held hostage. He'd definitely call the police, once he was good and far away.

As soon as his feet hit the ground he released the grapple from the wall and the chain immediately reeled back in. So he began to run, and heard the sound of a motorcycle engine revving. Link turned his head to see a motorcycle peel out of the alley across the street. The rider held a broken pipe level with Link's head as they sped by, but as if by some miracle, Link tripped, mostly because he was staring at the motorcycle instead of where he was going, and the pipe soared over his head by mere inches.

He immediately pushed himself up and saw the motorcycle turn around and begin another run. Link reacted on impulse alone, his body throbbed is a dull pain as he launched the Hookshot instinctively and the dart dug into the rider's shoulder, prompting her to drop the pipe from the pain, as well as the recoil of the chain tugging the woman, as Link could tell now, towards him and off the bike.

By time he regained control of his body, the woman crashed into him and they fell on the ground in a heap.

"Damn brat!" She lifted her good arm, her right, and a blade shot out of her wrist as she thrust her palm at Link's throat. His body throbbed again and his head shifted to the right enough to avoid the blade. He grabbed her and shoved her off of him, allowing him time to register what was happening. Or at least try, before she stood up and charged at him again, her left arm surprisingly immobile, with the Hookshot still stuck in it, his fingers had apparently worked on their own and allowed the chain to extend.

"Who are you?!" Link asked as he backpedaled out of her strikes for his vitals.

She did not answer, but as her next strike came dangerously close to piercing his throat, his body throbbed and he reflexively dropped into a crouch, and spun around, his left leg extended and sweeping her feet out from under her. Link gaped in surprise. _What's up with me?_ He looked at his hands for answers, finding he still held the Hookshot in his right, and his left was… glowing. Faintly, but the golden light was just noticeable. He turned his hand over and saw the golden emblem of the royal family. The triangles of the Triforce. The glow faded after mere moments, leaving him again, slightly pained and confused.

The woman again jumped back to her feet, obviously very ticked off. Link clicked the Hookshot and the dart came free from her shoulder, retracting back into the device for another shot as Link began running again to build some distance. He wasn't sure how much juice his reflexes had left, and he didn't want to find out.

People were staring too, they saw a street brawl between a biker thug, and a teenage punk. It was only a matter of time before the cops showed up. It seemed that she realized this as well and decided to flee, because the next time he checked behind himself, she was gone. So he stopped running and sat down against the nearest building panting. _What was that just now?_ He looked at his left hand again, his right clipped the Hookshot to his belt. Burned into the back of his hand was the mark of the Triforce, like a brand, or more accurately a tattoo. While it had the color of recently burnt flesh, it was smooth like the rest of his skin. _Man…_

--

Safely hiding inside an alley, the woman removed her helmet and glared at her shoulder wound. It wasn't supposed to take that long. Just a drive by. Now she made a ruckus and people would be looking for her. Plus they'd have to call off the hostages on the Inn. The mission had failed.

All that and she lost her bike.

She tapped the device in her ear to activate it. "Mission failed. Call off all units. We can not afford to be caught."

There was a pause. "_Yes ma'am." _

Throwing the helmet to the ground she winced at her paralyzed left arm. "Today's gone to shit…" She flicked her wrist just right and the hidden dagger retracted back into the sheath on her wrist. But still, that kid… something was bugging her about him. Maybe it was his look of complete surprise every time he made a move, like he didn't even know what he was doing. Was he fighting purely on reflexes? She groaned in annoyance, obviously he had been more than just lucky. He had the goddesses on his side. "I need some liquor."

--

"Da hell, goro?!" Darbus pounded the countertop and a crack raced across the surface. Both Links flinched and the Goron Link ducked and curled into a ball. "You say a bunch o' human women held this place up, goro?!"

"T-two… two woman, goro." Goron Link mumbled.

"There was a third standing watch, but I didn't get a look at her face." Link added. "Look, is there any reason for this? What would anyone want with the Stone Wall Inn anyway, you guys only get Gorons for customers, and whatever you make is usually in ore that you wind up eating later." Link complained.

Darbus growled to himself but felt it could not be helped. "There's… an old keepsake of the Goron people that my clan was charged with, goro."

"A keepsake?" Link raised an eyebrow.

"An old Hammer, it's never rusted once in the many years its existed, goro. Some say it was enchanted, but nobody has bothered to wield it for a long time, goro." Darbus lumbered over to Link. "It's likely very valuable, goro."

"An ancient Hammer?" Link sighed. "Well whatever. You might want to keep it in a safer place. I mean… they'll come back if it's really valuable."

"It is safe, goro. But not if people will be threatened, goro!" He pointed at the Goron behind the counter. "Link, I'm sorry, but you're fired for your own safety, goro."

For some reason, Link was quick to comply and rolled out from behind the counter and uncurled before bowing. "Thank you for the job, goro." He stood upright again and walked out the door.

"You!" Darbus pointed at Link. "Must either leave or be willing to die for this Hammer, goro."

Link groaned in annoyance. This was going to be pain for sure, but he couldn't just leave Darbus alone with this. I mean… not after he took him in. "I'll stay. I owe you my life Darbus, it's high time I paid you back." Link held up his left hand and made a fist. "I'll help you protect you treasure."

Darbus gave Link a big smile. "I was hoping to scare you off… goro." He sighed. "But I suppose your heart holds too much stubborn bravery to be dissuaded by a threat on your life, goro." His smile grew wider. "I'm remembering why I took you in now, goro."

--

Sheik stopped in front of Zelda's room and checked himself. His suit was all in order, with a minor adjustment of the tie, he was perfect in that regard. He spun around and looked into the well polished gold candle holder that had long since lost its use and fixed the part in his dirty blonde hair to make himself more presentable. "Eh, good enough." He took a deep breath and cleared his throat before knocking on Zelda's door. "Princess, it is time for lunch and you haven't left your room all morning, your father is getting worried."

Zelda opened the door. She was wearing a pink tank top and light purple panties. Sheik turned beat red. "Z-Zeruda-hime! P-pants!" He closed his eyes.

Zelda just looked at herself for a moment. She didn't even blush at all. "Ah… sorry." She closed the door and Sheik waited a for a moment before she opened the door again. She had slipped on a pair of white sweats. "You needed something."

Sheik was still blushing but took a few deep breaths before speaking. "Your f-father was getting worried, he usually has seen you by now. He was aware you might still be upset, but it's already past twelve so…"

"Right…" Zelda closed her eyes to think. It was then that she did something that surprised Sheik entirely. She spoke to him in his native language. /"Can you keep a secret… between friends."/

For some reason sheik had a feeling this was going to become hell. He just knew it.

--

Darbus stood at the register and watched Link slide out of the hall and into the foyer, now wearing a green beanie. "What's with the hat, goro?"

"Don't know. It makes me feel stronger. In school… when the bigger kids would pick on me, I'd always try to defend myself, but never could. Until I happened upon this hat. I thought it looked cool and made me look tough. So I started wearing it to school. Haven't lost a fight since." He smiled at Darbus.

"So that's what all the… we really need to get back in touch, goro. I'm your legal guardian after all, goro." Darbus looked serious.

"Right…" Link chuckled. "Well then, the hat is on and the gloves are off. I'd love to see those ladies try and get the Hammer now!" The sound of glass breaking caused Link to instantly regret those words. _Me and my big mouth…_

Darbus ran as fast as his Goron legs would let him up the stairs to find the source of the noise. Link stood his ground for a moment, weighing his options, and deciding what to do.

In a matter of moments he charged up the stairs after Darbus, just in time to see the some ten foot tall Goron topple over in a thinning cloud of smoke, a canister shot through the already broken window and began expelling more smoke into the room, when it reached Link's lungs he immediately knew what it was. _Tear gas! Shit!_ He too fell to his knees coughing and hacking, his eyes and nose burned with the gas.

He heard footsteps and somebody stopped over him. "Well if it isn't the shit bag from before!" The slightly muffled voice was angry. Then Link was kicked square in the gut, and toppled over on his side, allowing him a momentary glance at his attacker. "Time for a little payback for what you did to my shoulder!" Yep, the girl with the bike wearing a gas mask instead of a helmet, and her hair was long and red while held in a ponytail.

"Aveil!" The girl turned to another woman, this one wearing a similar biker get up, only with more spikes. Apparently their rank is determinant by the number of spikes on their jackets or something. "That's enough. We're here for the Hammer, so leave the kid alone."

"But Nabooru!" The one called Aveil found a gun aimed at her throat.

"No casualties. That's an order." She walked over the large Goron and patted his arm. "Where's the Hammer?"

"I'll…" Darbus groaned. "Never…g-give it… to you…goro!"

"…" The one called Nabooru sighed. "Then I guess this calls for drastic measures… Avail… that order I just gave you…"

The woman picked the nearly unconscious Link up by the scruff of his shirt and summoned the blade from her sleeve. "With pleasure!"

"Link…" Darbus wheezed.

"Hold up." Nabooru signaled for Avail to stop. "What did you just say big guy?"

"Link… don't…" Darbus felt a wave of relief wash over him as the foul gas in the room suddenly was blown away from the blonde boy. His hand was glowing, his left hand was glowing, and now that they cared to look, a strange golden pattern hovered an inch from his skin, glowing with the same golden light.

Then Link pushed Avail, sending her clear across the room and into a wall with a thud, when she dropped the floor unconscious. He spoke. His voice was garbled, and he spoke a different language, that for some reason everybody could understand perfectly, as though hearing the words made them hear them again in common. _"Ye who defiles this place, hallowed by the Goron's Hammer… leave, or may the fires of din consume you."_

Nabooru huffed. "Link… why here? Why now? Damn it." She looked him in the eye, and looked at her with a hollow gaze, as though he was not looking at her, but her soul. "F--king magic." Nabooru grabbed Avail and ran for the window, where she jumped out and to safety.

The glow vanished and Link's body fell to the floor, completely unconscious.

* * *

Updated 10/17/08: Formatting spelling and other stuff mildly imporved... honestly I can't recall exactly everything I changed to be specific.


End file.
